Psychodynamic Therapy

Most of my formative academic training was grounded in the principles of psychodynamic therapy which pays attention to processes as they impact current day behaviors. I use the treatment orientation in daily practice to help provide a holistic approach to the helping process.

The roles we play in life now can be connected to our our roles, values and beliefs we learned when we were younger. My role is to help illuminate your emotions and unhealthy patterns of behavior that would provide you with the keys to unlocking the root of your concerns. By having a deeper understanding of your internal world, we will help you to make decisions that would lead to a more successful life.

Music psychotherapy utilizes concepts from Jungian theory as well as attachment and client centered approaches. What is underneath your behavior patterns? What keep cropping up despite your very smart intellectual understanding of your past? "We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses." Carl Jung

As a psychodynamic therapist, I believe much of our behaviors, emotions, and thoughts emerge from unconscious parts of ourselves. These are aspects of our being we're unaware of and disconnected from, that may be governing our interactions with others and informing our sense of self. My role through this specialty is to help clients know themselves better by reflecting curiously on the meaning of their experiences, which includes the experiences that unfold in the therapeutic relationship.

Psychodynamic therapy focuses on the psychological roots of emotional suffering. Its hallmarks are self-reflection and self-examination, and the use of the relationship between therapist and patient as a window into problematic relationship patterns in the patient’s life. Its goal is not only to alleviate the most obvious symptoms but to help people lead healthier lives.

I earned my 3-year postgraduate certificate in psychodynamic psychotherapy from The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York City.

Psychodynamic therapy is a therapeutic treatment that primarily focuses on the interpretation of mental and emotional processes. It shares much in common with psychoanalysis and is often considered a simpler, less time consuming alternative. Psychodynamic therapy seeks to reveal the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to alleviate psychic tension.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But it is also true that we are largely ruled by our unconscious. Let's spend time understanding a bit of how you got to be who you are, with compassion and trust that you have done the best you could. And courage to know where your choices are going forward. Examining your past is not about blame or excuses, but about acceptance of what has been and creative awareness of personal growth going forward.

Psychodynamic therapy can help clients to see the impact of earlier life experiences on their patterns of relating with the self, others, and the world. This can be particularly helpful when clients are wanting to modify certain patterns that they identify as potentially maladaptive or harmful to current relationships.

Some parts of ourselves are hidden from our own awareness and become apparent only in the ways we relate to others: the impact we have on them, how we engage them, what seems to come up again and again. Because of this, I use the relationship we build as a window into your world–and as an agent of change in your life. With greater awareness of the underlying habits, patterns, and motivations that direct our lives, the greater your agency, choice, and freedom.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy refers to an approach and theory that assumes that early life experience informs and shapes our current relationships and emotional state. It is loosely related to the theory and practice of psychoanalysis (see below). In psychodynamic therapy, the relationship and interaction with the therapist is seen as a primary mode of effecting positive or developmental change. Therapy tends to involve exploration of both current as well as past experiences, often uncovering aspects of a persons thoughts and emotions that were not fully realized or understood. It is through this new understanding and emotional exploration that negative or stuck states of mind and/or relationships are healed, resolved or developed.

Through this collaborative approach, I encourage the exploration of past and present emotions, beliefs, experiences, and behaviors and work with you to develop a deeper understanding of your early life experiences. Through this process, I believe individuals are able to develop meaningful insight into themselves and their lives.

I utilize psychodynamic theory in my practice. Sometimes I worry that just the word of it sounds intense or old school. But in very simple terms all it really means is looking at our relationships and examining patterns of relating and living!

Psychodynamic therapy helps to identify where you're struggling. It can help you see yourself and those around you more clearly to promote self-awareness.

Understanding of attachment theory and how ingrained trauma from the past effects us in the present.